Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Bu Melîḥî iki ʿaṣâ götürür
Biri cismânî biri rûḥânî
Ol ki cismânîdür aġaçdandur
Ol ki rûḥânî laʿl-i rümmânî

In English

1. This Melîhî carries two staffs; one belongs to the body, the other to the spirit.

2. The one that belongs to the body is of wood; the one that belongs to the spirit is a pomegranate-red ruby. (The pomegranate-red ruby is red wine.)

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This four-line poem is a kıta: the first and third lines are free, while the second and fourth rhyme on the words "rûḥânî" and "rümmânî". The poet has placed his own pen name (mahlas) in the first line. Latîfî gives the poem under the heading "Ḳıṭʿa". Sehî Bey records the same kıta as one of Melîhî's poems "ṣıfat-ı meyde", that is, describing wine; in his text the second line reads "Biri rûḥânî biri cismânî", and in some manuscripts the last word reads "rümmânîdür". Gelibolulu Âlî quotes the kıta in the same order as Latîfî. The editions of the biographical anthologies (tezkires) do not indicate the metre.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The kıta is built on the contrast between bodily and spiritual. The wooden stick in the old poet's hand is the "bodily" staff that keeps his body upright. Wine is presented as the second staff, the one that keeps his spirit upright. In divan poetry the ruby (la'l) stands for the red gemstone and also for the beloved's lip and for wine; the adjective "rümmânî" (pomegranate-coloured) here indicates the colour of the wine. The last word of the kıta thus gives the reader the real answer by a witty detour. Setting contrasting ideas side by side is the figure of tezat (antithesis). The pen name "Melîḥî" suits the jest too: the word "melîḥ" means salty, pleasant and witty.

Historical Context

Latîfî relates the occasion of the kıta. In the weakness of old age Melîhî stood up with a stick when sober, but went home without a stick when drunk. To those who asked the reason he answered with this kıta. Gelibolulu Âlî repeats the same story, saying that in old age the poet always walked with a staff, but when he left the tavern for home he walked without it. Sehî gives the kıta after the sentence in which he relates that Mehmed II pardoned him but never brought him near again. That the kıta appears in three tezkires shows that it was one of the sayings that carried Melîhî's fame. For the poet's life, see the article Melîhî of Tokat.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Official sources

Online sources